by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

If there was ever a time for the Oakland Raiders to make a free agency splash, Tuesday was that day.

When the NFL's new year opened, the Silver and Black had nearly $65 million in space under the NFL's $133 million cap. Even by NFL standards, that's a lot of moolha. In fact, it's a record. No team in NFL history has never had so much cap space.

No, the Raiders proved that having fistfuls of salary cap dollars hardly guarantees that confetti will circulate in the Black Hole. Houston and Veldheer signed five-year, $35 million deals. Veldheer, coveted blindside protector, reunites with Carson Palmer in Arizona, with $17 million guaranteed. Houston landed in Chicago with $15 million guaranteed.

With all of their cap dollars - and the feature of the most recent collective bargaining agreement that stipulates that teams must have a cash spend of at least 89% of the cap over a four-year period - you'd think the Raiders would have gone to all stops to keep Veldheer and Houston in the fold. After all, the sign-your-own method has been trending in recent days.

On the eve of free agency, the Seattle Seahawks kept defensive end Michael Bennett off the market. The Green Bay Packers did similarly with Sam Shields. The Minnesota Vikings locked up young defensive end Everson Griffen.

As the market officially opened, it included a few more stay-at-home deals. The Indianapolis Colts showed Vontae Davis the money of an escalating cornerback market. The Baltimore Ravens avoided another crisis by hanging onto left tackle Eugene Monroe. Washington kept Perry Riley and Santana Moss in the fold.

But the Raiders had no such action. In fact, running back Rashad Jennings left, too, for the New York Giants.

With so much available cap room, the Raiders had the ammunition to make competitive offers. Houston was a player McKenzie tried to re-sign last season. Jennings was mentioned recently by McKenzie as a free agency priority, one of the 11 who hit the market after finishing last season as starters. Veldheer was a key cog whose torn triceps early last season underscored his value.

Yet they're all gone. On some level, the free agents who departed had to desire a fresh start.

Oakland finished 4-12 in 2013 and hasn't had a winning campaign in 11 seasons. The Raiders play at the NFL's most dilapidated home, O.co Coliseum. The quarterback situation remains unsettled. Rebuilding is not the most inspiring sales pitch. This all adds up to a tough draw - for keeping your own or attracting free agents.

Still, the NFL world is a business world, as Tuesday's activities amplified. Players often go - or stay - where they can get their best deal or something close to it.

Oakland's free agent departures might have been swayed to stay with bigger offers.

Or maybe not.

Yet as McKenzie teams with coach Dennis Allen at what appears to be a critical juncture, having guided the franchise out of the salary cap jail sentence they inherited in 2012, it is apparent that their discipline for sticking to whatever value they assign on specific players will be tested.

As one veteran NFL general manager likes to say, sometimes the best move is the one that you don't make.

Perhaps, in evaluating the talent, the Raiders placed a higher value on Saffold than they had on Veldheer. Saffold's deal exceeds what Veldheer received and is in range of the $46 million deal that Branden Albert signed with the Miami Dolphins as the top tackle on the market. If so, that's debatable.

If not, it might be a sign of what the Raiders really will have to do to compete - overpay.

As the market settles and the cap windows tighten around the league, the Raiders might ultimately land a few bargains. But as it stands now, having all of those cap dollars is no huge advantage - especially when a $10 million-per-team bump cut into whatever edge might have existed by having the most cap space.

But hey, at least the Raiders managed to sign one of their own Tuesday: Darren McFadden is staying on a one-year contract.